Matt Donovan

Matt Donovan is a down-on-his-luck townie (without health insurance!). Hardworking and noble, he’s quick to back up his friends — the very same buds who sometimes forget that he has to fend for himself for months on end. This kid is dirt-poor with a loser mother and dead sister, who he originally thought had just run away. He’s the paper chaser of the Donovan household and was once the object of Caroline Forbes’s affections.

Things went from just average woes to oh-no-what-the-hell-is-going-here pretty quickly once Matt discovered Caroline’s secret. You know, that she has to drink blood in order to keep her rosy complexion. Matt’s BFF, Tyler, wasn’t exactly truthful either, hiding his werewolfism from his all-too-human friend. After scheming with Sheriff Forbes to get rid of the supernatural element in Mystic Falls — including Caroline — Matt decided he just wanted to have a normal life, free from things that go bump in the night. Oh, and Matt is also Elena’s ex — as if he didn’t have enough drama in his life.

When Jeremystarted seeing ghosts, Matt was pretty eager to bring his sister, Vicki, back to the corporeal world. He wanted it so bad, he went off — no, into — the deep end, drowning himself until he too could see Vicki. Matt’s ghostly visions ended when Vick was sent back to other side. Fast facts:

1. Matt has known Elena her since they were babies.

2. Blame it on the al, al, al-alca, alcohol: Matt and Caroline were just friends until one night when Caroline got trashed and he took her home and took care of her. (In a totally chaste, gentlemanly way. Get your minds out of the gutter!)

3. In The Vampire Diaries novels Matt’s surname is “Honeycutt,” not Donovan.

4. Original Rebekah has a bit of a crush on the gallant Matt, though she ran him off Wickery Bridge, killing Elena. That could nip any romance in the bud.